How to make sure policies are fit for purpose

Commentary

One of the main responsibilities of governing bodies is “setting policies for the school for achieving the aims and objectives”.  Source: The Terms of Reference (Wales) Regulation 2000.

Schools have numerous policies in place, many of which are statutory, which all need to be kept up to date and must be fit for purpose.   When governing bodies have a large number of agenda items to discuss at meetings, policies are sometimes “rubber-stamped” rather than scrutinised and discussed before agreement.

Setting up a committee for reviewing policies is a really good idea, as this leaves more time at full governing body meetings to discuss, monitor and evaluate school improvement priorities.

Local Authorities usually draft policies relating to staffing, which have already been consulted on with the local trade union representatives.

It is best practice to have a review checklist in place, where all the policies are reviewed over a period of time, for example three years.  That said, even with a rolling review period in place, policies can be reviewed earlier, if for instance an issue was brought up which highlighted a possible flaw in a policy. Some policies however, must reviewed on an annual basis. Governors Cymru Services has a list of statutory policies and documents that governing bodies need to have in place – http://governors.cymru/publications/2018/08/29/policy-documents/